Pak-US relations fully repaired, claims Khar

Islamabad ,
Thu, 29 Nov 2012ANI

Islamabad, Nov. 29 (ANI): Pakistan and the US have restored full military and intelligence ties after relations hit a low point last year, and Islamabad will take further steps to support a nascent Afghan peace process, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said.

"There was a fairly difficult patch and I think we've moved away from that into a positive trajectory. We are coming closer to developing what could be common positions. We wish to see a responsible transition in Afghanistan," The Express Tribune quoted Khar, as saying, while referring to Pak-US relations.

Relations between the two allies were severely strained by a series of incidents in 2011. It began when a CIA contractor shot dead two men he suspected of trying to rob him in the city of Lahore.

Months later, US Special Forces killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a raid without informing the Pakistan military.

Then a NATO air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in Mohmand Agency in November that year. In response, closed supply routes for trucks carrying supplies to US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Now, Khar said, relations were fully repaired, including military and intelligence contacts.

"We are having very useful, deep conversations with the US," she said, as the two countries try to find common ground on Afghanistan ahead of the scheduled 2014 pullout.

Pakistan recently released mid-level Afghan Taliban prisoners to help facilitate peace talks between the militant group and the Kabul government - the clearest sign that it was committed to advancing Afghan reconciliation.

"For us in Pakistan today, the most important capital in the world is Kabul," said Khar, because instability there could spill over into Pakistan, and fuel its own Taliban insurgency. (ANI)